C-SPAN’s Selective Sensitivity to Caller Insults

By Published On: July 12, 2011


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C-SPAN’s Washington Journal host on the July 10 broadcast, Libby Casey, took quick exception to a derogatory comment by a caller referring to Vice President Biden as “retarded.” Casey admonished a 7:22 AM caller responding to the topic, Speaker Boehner scales back scope of deficit talks:

Well, I’m going to say, Charlie, please be careful when you use that word [“retarded”]. We don’t want to insult any of our viewers when we talk about this by saying things that might be considered to be insulting.

Casey’s swift intervention was in reaction to a call from “Charlie” of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Charlie remarked that he and his 12-year-old daughter recently watched Vice-President Joe Biden speaking on C-SPAN: “’We’ve got to keep spending to keep from going bankrupt’ [Biden said] and my daughter looked at me and asked if he [Biden] was retarded.”

C-SPAN’s prompt action here is in stark contrast to the chronic silence of hosts who allow the spewing of extreme anti-Israeli, anti-Jewish invective on Washington Journal. Often the language is not only insulting but is blatantly bigoted and incites prejudice. For example, a caller on June 15, 2011 at 7:25 AM defamed Jews with a classic anti-Semitic stereotype:

I would like to see him [President Obama] get out of the wars that we are in. That would be good. And maybe some of the rich Jews could finance the wars, they are the ones who pushed us into most of it.

C-SPAN was indifferent and silent, the smearing of Jews continuing on the network.

C-SPAN can be contacted about its selective sensitivity at (202) 737-3220, [email protected], [email protected].

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